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Persia’s Poetic Past

The sands of time have always knownThat civilization which has grownIn that plateau we call IranLand of the lion, and the sun

Kourosh brought unmatched gloryDariush’s Persepolis told the lasting storyStrength came from tolerance and freedomJustice and nobility flourished in this kingdom

Wise words of Kourosh, baked on a cylinder of clayRespected foreign cultures, and the right to freely prayWomen were respected, and slavery abolishedKourosh was Great, for the human rights he polished

The greatest empire ever seenTheir lasting legacy was unforeseenMasters of the worldThe Persians‘ achievements must be told

And what about Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis?Did the Greeks truly receive such bliss?Herodotus embellished, told lies for the WestFor the Persians, these were skirmishes at best

But every golden era must someday endSo too Achaemanesh’s dynasty would bendAlexander’s army won, but could not seeWin or lose, Persians‘ hearts always stay free

Revenge, envy, and wine made Alexander yearnThe pride of Persia, Persepolis, to burnThe labor of years, by a thousand artisans employedTook one lunatic one night, for this jewel to be destroyed

Greatness comes, from a worthy contributionTo humanity, to art, to law, or a scientific institutionThose who burn and loot deserve our hateSo answer this, was Alexander truly Great?

Parthians picked up the torch of our landPut Iranian rule back in Iranian handThey showed Greece and Rome, to name just twoThat Iran possesses great horses, and great men too

Like a Phoenix, from the ashes risingThe Sassanians arrived, with Iran reorganizingPower, wealth, and wisdom again flourishedThe rule of Ardeshir, Shapur, and Khosrow let Iran be nourished

Life was based on three simple needsGood Thoughts, Good Words, and Good DeedsMonotheist religion, for all its evil and its goodCame from Iran, from where Zarathustra stood

Rome, for all its power and its legionsCouldn’t touch Iran’s vast regionsMany times Rome tried but failedEvery time cataphract armor thundered and hailed

But Sassanian wealth and beauty caught the eyeOf a dessert tribe, whose religion was a lieLike dessert snakes, they ruthlessly attackedUntil beautiful Ctesiphone was sacked

Rostam-e-Farokhzad, the brave and capable generalFought till the end, though his wounds were severalAt Qaddissiya, he came to Iran’s defenseAlas, the Taazi army was too dense

With coercion and the swordIslam was able to spread its wordA dark and sinister force was bornThat to this day brings Iran much scorn

Some to India had to fleeIran’s destruction was unbearable to seeParsees, they are called to this dayAhura Mazda, with them will always stay

But Iranian roots are strong and hard to killIran was freed again, with such a thrillThe Saffarids would answer the nation’s callTo make Arab tyranny shamefully fall

Don’t mourn the Ashura, weep a Taazi’s deathHassan and Hossein were foreigners, who weakened Iran’s breathIf mourn you must, then mourn, a national eventLike Gauguamela, or Qaddissiya, places of great lament

While Europe was stagnant in its Dark AgesPersian scholars thrived, free from mental cagesFrom algebra, to astronomy, and architecturePersians wrote the book, and gave the lecture

A time of great Persian thinkers had emergedWhere poetry and science, love and knowledge, easily vergedSaadi, Hafez, Rumi, Omar Khayam to name a fewThanks to them, humanity exponentially grew

Who could forget Ferdowsi, the greatest poet ever?He gave us Sam, Zal, and Rostam, heroes both brave and cleverThe Persian language, so eloquently resurrectedAs The Shahnameh was written with all Arabic words neglected

Many other invaders would come again, much the sameFrom Genghis Khan to Teimur the LameThey would loot, burn, and murderThe cities to proud to surrender

Though Turks and Mongols had military strengthThey were lacking in cultural lengthThe Persian culture was to rich, to be absorbed into theirsInstead they settled in Iran, and joined her proud heirs

It’s clear from this short and simple recapThat Iran had its share of glory, as well as mishapOur generation is unfortunate, assigned the stationOf another dark chapter, in the book of our nation

Once again Zahak is in powerHis snakes consume and poison every flowerHe uses religion and superstitionTo enforce his selfish and malicious mission

So once more dust off the Kaviyani bannerAnd fly it high, in a proud and fitting mannerZahak and his snakes will die once moreAnd our nation we shall yet restore

Iran in its infancy reached the skyWill faravahar’s wings expand, will Iran soar that high?Just lift the veil, you’ll surely seeIran’s brightest days are lying ahead, when the Aryans are again free